3 Lousy Little Letters, A Race Report - and 1 Amazing Thing

Being as there is so much good in my life, I'm going to focus on that first. On Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 7.13 in the morning, my amazingly beautiful nephew was born. Logan Kent weighed in at 7 pounds, 3.8 ounces and was 20.75 inches long. He is truly, without any doubt, the most beautiful thing I've ever laid eyes on. I am so excited to have a little nephew! While I was super happy during my sister's pregnancy, I'm honestly surprised by how excited and in love I am with this little dude. Don't get me wrong - I knew I'd be happy and that I'd like the kid - but as a self-proclaimed anti-child person, I'm literally shocked by my reaction to him. I love this kid more than words can describe. So that's my one amazing thing...and he is one of the best things to happen to our family! :)

Now, a short race report for the Will Run for Margaritas 5k that was held on April 10. This race was at 1.00 on a Saturday afternoon - seems like a fabulous idea, right? You get to sleep in, go on a 3 mile jaunt and then enjoy happy hour specials at a local New Mexican restaurant chain. This was a good idea in theory only. 1.00 PM is much too late for a spring race in New Mexico. It. was. HOT. And disorganized. The course was something I can't even begin to describe, but I'll suffice it to say that we had to stop twice to get through a tiny little fence. Even though I'm complaining about this, it won't deter me from participating in the remaining two events that the same company is sponsoring - we have Will Run for Wine on May 29 (with complimentary access to the local wine festival following the race) and Will Run for Beer in June. Let's just say I believe in running for a good cause - and drinking refreshing adult beverages after a race is a fantastic cause!

And now on to my disturbing news. Last weekend - April 17 - the hubs and I participated in the Los Ranchos de Albuquerque Half Marathon. This race has been around for a while, but it was given a new name this year. I've never participated in it (there's a laundry list of reasons, but I'll sum it up to say that the shop that sponsors it makes a complete and utter mess out of their races, so I choose to stay as far away as possible). This was the hub's 2nd year doing it and he did great - 2:11 and some change. Me, on the other hand...it was one of the worst days I've had in a very long time. I didn't finish. I have never, ever, ever, EVER dropped out of a race before, but I knew from the get-go that this wasn't going to be a pleasant experience. First of all, there was a good .5+ mile walk to the start - no biggie, I've done longer. But I've never walked through .5+ miles of deep, slippery mud to get to the start...and even though the hubs kept telling me that that would be part of the course, I chose to ignore him and hope that he was wrong. He wasn't. Just like the Margarita run the week before, we all stopped at a bridge that required we cross 2-3 people at a time...and then we hit the mud. For 3 miles.

I'm not sure what was wrong...I don't know if it was the fact that I slacked on my icing/stretching the week prior, or if it was the fact that I was

"gripping" the ground with my toes for both the walk to the start and

for those first 3 miles. It was probably a combination. But whatever it was, my legs felt like lead within the first couple of miles and my foot had that familiar and terrible tearing feeling by the time we got off the mud and onto the pavement. I stopped to stretch, I re-tied my shoes...nothing was working. Finally, I got to 7 miles and decided I'd had enough. I called my dad and asked him to come get me. I walked another half mile to get to a busier intersection so my dad could find me...and I stood there crying for a good 10 minutes waiting. It was humiliating. My dad was nice enough to not only take me to the finish line, but he stuck around with me and the hubs while we said our goodbyes to everyone and then drove us to our car so we wouldn't have to do that slippery mud again.

I know I made the right choice...I took all of last week off and my foot is really feeling better. I did 3 miles Saturday morning and it was perfectly fine. But it was the hardest, most heart-breaking choice I've ever made. I actually trained for this specific race - every other half marathon I've done has been a part of marathon training. Oh well. I've moved on (for the most part) and have Chicago to focus on now. And a new baby in the family. :)

Next up: Run for the Zoo 10k (my first 10k!) on May 2

Laying on a beach in Belize May 15-21

Will Run for Wine 5k on May 29